Should College Athletes Be Compensated to Play?
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Introduction
The importance of college
In the constantly advancing world that we inhabit, the need and desire for economic success has become the main objective of our society. Unlike those of previous generations, the jobs of today require a vast knowledge and mastery of the skills necessary to perform the job at one's peak level. Having once been acceptable if an employee had only received a high school diploma, it has become extremely important that potential employees have not only graduated from high school, but that they graduate from college having earned the highest degree attainable. This shift in trend toward academic importance has resulted in a surge of young scholars becoming more and more concerned about their futures. Hoping for future economic stability, the youth of today have invested more time and effort into making themselves attractive to the top universities in the country. As a result, a nationwide competition for college acceptances exists.
Competive college admission
It is easy to deduce that in competition, there are winners and losers. Every year, college admission directors must review thousands of applications from many well-rounded and qualified students. While the lucky few are accepted, many are denied admission. This is considered to be the conventional, "fair" way of determining which college or university one will attend.
Recently, however, a great debate has arisen surrounding college athletics. Sports of the twenty-first century have become businesses; like the rest of the world, their prime objective has become money. Teams in every professional sport do whatever it takes to assemble the best team possible, which could bring them athletic glory and economic gain. These days, managers are willing to shell out millions of dollars to top athletes as a way of attracting the public's fan appeal and having a player who will serve as the player to build their team around. They look for the best talent available- in respective minor leagues and also in the ranks of college basketball. Talented college athletes face a dilemma during their college years: should they stay in college where they can earn their degree like they orginally intended, or should they leave college early to follow the big bucks and extravagance of the professional leagues? Within the last ten years, many college athletes have chosen to leave college before having graduated, some as early as after completing their freshman years.
This is the essence of what this page is really about. Why are these student-athletes choosing to leave college over staying in school? There is one simple reason: money. This page explores the specifics as to what collegiate student-athletes must evaluate when faced with this dilemma, and proposes a significant question: should college athletes be compensated to play?